


The Endless Winter

by captainBucky (GYPAFY)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Magical Realism, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Sick Character, sorta?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 05:41:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7788877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GYPAFY/pseuds/captainBucky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once upon a time, the world was cold. Harsh, chilling winds blew, and snow covered the ground, but there was never any reprieve. An endless winter, that forced the people of the world into poverty and trying times.</p><p>Steve, unlike so many in his generation, fought the cold, in more ways than one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Endless Winter

**Author's Note:**

> Was sort of going for a fairytale-esque thing when I started this, I'm not sure if I did that, but I still really like how it turned out. Inspired by Coming Down by Halsey, weirdly enough. Enjoy!

Once upon a time, the world was cold. Harsh, chilling winds blew, and snow covered the ground, but there was never any reprieve. An endless winter, that forced the people of the world into poverty and trying times. 

Crops could not be grown, they would always freeze over, and the sky was much too dark for any livestock to thrive, so starving was common. Energy, ability, and resources seeped out of the people, leaving them and the generation to come with only the cold to fill their bones.

The children who grew in this torment of nature knew nothing other than the cold. They survived and pushed through because they had never seen warmth, and did not know how to crave it. 

Their parents, however, passed down tales of glorious summer days, sweltering heat wrapping around you like a blanket. They told of the sun, shining bright and hot in the faces of everyone, and how stepping outside would feel like a blessing, knowing the air would strengthen you rather than pushing sickness and shivers through your body. 

Like many of the children who had grown in the cold, Bucky Barnes clung tightly to these stories, bound by the human necessity for hope. But, again, like many of the children who had grown in the cold, Bucky did not really believe that such a place, warm and happy, could exist. What he did believe in was the strength of himself, the other children who grew in the cold, and most of all, his best friend Steve. 

Steve, unlike so many in his generation, fought the cold, in more ways than one. He fought through harsh winds and below-zero temperatures to help helpless strangers, he stood up against bad people that thought it was good that the cold destroyed the weak, and his frail, skinny body warred tirelessly with constant sickness, breathing problems, and endless other complications.

Bucky knew it was a miracle that Steve was alive, and knew that if anything or anyone held the warmth and bliss of his mother’s stories, it was Steve. This in mind, he stayed by Steve’s side through their childhood years and into young adulthood, even after both of their parents were taken by the cold. 

He loved Steve dearly, as Steve loved him, and he fought to protect his friend through any means possible. 

This was made especially clear one deadly night, in the darkness of their small Brooklyn apartment. Steve had come down with another illness, and Bucky, who had been with him through everything, had never seen him this bad. His skin was gravely pale, every breath was choked or followed by bloody, hacking coughs. His already frail body had become just skin and bones with him not being able to keep food down, and he did not have the strength to move at all when Bucky tried to offer him a glass of water. 

Steve was dying in front of him, and there was nothing he could do about it. 

He had desperately searched the streets for medicine, willing to beg or steal, but nothing could treat the severity of the sickness claiming Steve. 

Other times, when he had feared for Steve’s life, he had gotten angry at world, for torturing Steve and his pure heart that was so undeserving of the pain it received. This while having confidence that Steve and all his willpower very well might make it though.

This time, though, there was no anger or confidence. Desperation flowed through him like the cold he’d always known, and he simply sat next to the worn bed where Steve lay, numb with terror at the approaching end.

When it truly struck him that this was the last night he may ever spend with his friend, he moved onto the bed, curling his body around Steve’s to share any heat he may have had. He cried silently into Steve’s shoulder, pausing only to whisper pleas of, 

“Don’t go. Don’t leave me. I love you, I love you so much, Steve.”

As Bucky slowly ran out of tears and his body drained of energy, he turned his pleas to the heavens, looking towards the moon, shining brightly into a window of the freezing bedroom. 

“Don’t take him from me,” he implored the pale moon. “I will never ask for anything else, just please, let him live.” 

The impassive sky, black, but for the moon amongst the clouds, did nothing for him. There was no pity for a useless pair of boys trying to fight the life they were born into. 

Still, Bucky continued, his voice gaining strength as he spoke. 

“He’s got the purest heart, filled with warmth and strength. Let him live, let him share that with the world, let him feel warmth on his skin and breath in his lungs and love in his heart. And, in return, take me. Fill me with the winter you have forced upon us all. Turn me into a vessel for nature’s evils, use my body to take the lives of those you want to torture, and destroy me in the process. But let him live like he deserves to.” 

Steve began to cough, body shaking violently as more blood forced its way out of him. Bucky turned his attention away from the window and back to Steve, clinging to the sound of weak breaths and the pounding of a fast-beating heart. 

The dark sky loomed over the boys in their tiny apartment as it always had, and was overwhelmed with the power of the boys’ bond and the sense of purpose they both had. 

In Bucky’s arms, Steve’s frail body took in it’s last shuddering breath, before a ripping scream pushed it’s way out of him and into the darkness, sending a shock through Bucky.

Steve’s body was expanding, growing taller, stronger, right before Bucky’s eyes. Steve looked like he was in pain, face clenched tight and a scream still tearing it’s way though his morphing body.

Soon though, he was sitting up, clenching his jaw closed and opening his eyes to stare fearfully at Bucky as his body finished changing. Though his face had stayed the same, his entire body was different, clearly now built with muscle and lungs that took even, deep gulps of air.

Bucky had gotten what he begged for, and tears of joy pricked at his eyes as he fell into a tight hug in the arms of his miraculous friend. 

“Bucky? What…happened?” Steve asked into his shoulder, and Bucky huffed out a laugh, still unbelieving at the situation.

“I, Steve, I asked for you to be okay. I asked for you to be able to live and breathe and love and, and I-”

Bucky cut himself off abruptly as he remembered his own part of the deal. From a quick glimpse at the slow-rising sun, he could tell that it was time for him to go.

He squeezed Steve’s large body tightly once again, then broke away and said, “I’m sorry, really, I gotta go for… a little while.”

“I still don’t understand, Buck, what-” Steve started, but Bucky cut him off with,

“I know, it doesn’t make sense, but, you’ll understand more in the morning. You should sleep now, your body needs its rest.”

Steve, having no idea of the capabilities of his new body, laid back down after shooting Bucky a confused glare. Bucky just smiled at him, full and bright, before stepping off of the bed.

Bucky gave Steve one last glance before walking out the door, and straight into the darkness outside.

-

The next morning, Steve woke up to shrieks of delight and music flooding in from outside. He looked out the window to see people crowded in the streets, laughing and dancing and crying with joy and they stared into the bright blue sky and basked in warmth that no human had felt for decades. 

He realized belatedly that he no longer felt the chills that brought him to his knees, and ran to the door to stand in the light of a day some never thought would come. 

He marveled silently at the people around him and at his new body, both equally inexplicable, but, somehow, existing. 

It was only as that thought passed that he remembered, ‘I’m sorry, really, I gotta go…’ And he looked through the street, trying to catch a glimpse of Bucky amongst the throng of cheerful people.

You’ll understand more in the morning, he had said, but Steve was still so confused. He immersed himself in the crowd, looking for both Bucky and an explanation, but could not find either.

If it were up to the forces of nature, Bucky and Steve may have never met again. But Steve was now blessed with a body to suit his unfaltering willpower and strength, and he knew he would never stop looking for Bucky, even if it lead him right back to the endless winter.

**Author's Note:**

> THANKS FOR COMMENT/KUDOS I LOVE YOU ALL!! ALSO LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT MORE I MIGHT WRITE A SEQUEL!


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